Oculus, a Facebook-owned company, has announced today that it will terminate support for signing in its devices with Oculus accounts in favor of Facebook accounts. But don't fret as these changes don't get into effect immediately. Starting this October 2020, first time log-ins on an Oculus device will need to do so with a Facebook account. Existing users will have the option to merge their Oculus and Facebook accounts, or continue using their Oculus accounts for a period of two years. After January 1, 2023, support for Oculus accounts will completely end. Those who don't merge their accounts by that time can still continue using their Oculus device, but will require a Facebook account for full functionality.

Of note, the company mentions that "all future unreleased Oculus devices will require a Facebook account, even if you already have an Oculus account."

Today, we’re announcing some important updates to how people log into Oculus devices, while still keeping their VR profile. Starting in October 2020, everyone using an Oculus device for the first time will need to log in with a Facebook account. // https://t.co/SMeDOXgehN

— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) August 18, 2020

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This move appears to be made to streamline Facebook’s management across its platforms. The announcement reads that rather than having a separate Oculus Code of Conduct, Oculus will adopt Facebook’s Community Standards as well as a new additional VR-focused policy. Another reason given is that a single login will make it "easier to find, connect and play with friends in VR" as well as allow Oculus device owners to try "Facebook-powered social experiences" such as live streaming gameplay on your Facebook timeline, making calls with parties and joining events. It could also help the company ban spam accounts.

This decision also goes against what Palmer Luckey, the creator of the original Oculus, said upon the acquisition: "You will not need a Facebook account to use or develop for the Rift".

What do you think of this announcement? Will it make you reconsider before purchasing a new Oculus device?

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[Urbanshadow]

I've always had my doubts of investing on an oculus headset or not but just now all becomes clear. I will make sure if I end entering the VR world is not with this company.

 

[Nostalgia]

D O A

 

[Rustypan]

Bro I cracked my oculus so I don't care
I DON'T NEED A GUN TO GET RESPECTED
Take that zuckerberg

 

[Joom]

More money for Fb, I'd just create a fake account to login though

That doesn't stop them from wiretapping whatever device you log in on, though. They'll also see that this account is used on the same IP as your other accounts and go from there. Facebook literally operates like malware.

 

[StrayGuitarist]

Fuck. No. As someone looking to get into VR, this totally rules out Oculus and anything related. Probably gonna end up with a WMR set due to how cheap it is, anyways.

 

[M7L7NK7]

Were you?

You said it was a shit move and not buying, not me..

No u

 

[titan_tim]

As someone who has had an Oculus around the time of the first retail units went on sale, I'll say that I could care a rats ass. I had an Oculus account, and I changed over to FB. Big whoop. It's a douche power move, but still not an issue. If you're angry at them because they use your personal data, then throw away your phone and don't use any website where you need to log in anymore.

The only people here whining were never their target audience. They did their risk analysis, and deemed you to be unimportant and not at all damaging to the company. If you aren't part of the current 2.7 billion active users, then they don't care about you. So continue with your "I was GOING to get one, but NOW I won't." It won't matter.

 

[FAST6191]

The only people here whining were never their target audience. They did their risk analysis, and deemed you to be unimportant and not at all damaging to the company. If you aren't part of the current 2.7 billion active users, then they don't care about you. So continue with your "I was GOING to get one, but NOW I won't." It won't matter.

If somewhat technical game players enjoying alternative input methods is not the target market right now for such tech I don't know what is.
Prices of units are dropping to "investment but no more than a decent monitor" range rather than "whole new machine", baseline machine performance is getting there too (no tippy top or don't bother machine needed any more), there may be something halfway resembling games made for the thing... while I still think we are years out of a proper mainstream takeover it is slowly building up steam.

I would not doubt such a move would have been considered for a long time and it either is a cost they care to pay in the short term, or necessary for their long term goals. Can't help but seeing it as a negative move from where I and seemingly most others here sit -- it does not help them make games/work the hardware more, does not help me get more games, only adds annoyance to me really.

As far as Facebook active users. The youth are somewhat drifting out of their ecosystem, various advert buyers are noticing such things, and if they are thinking long term that is far from ideal.

 

[spectral]

You missed my point. There is no *legitimate* reason for you to sign up to any service. Every piece of hardware you connect to your computer has "software" running it, both in terms of firmware and drivers - few require a log on. What I'm saying is that it's anti-consumer behaviour, and I won't be surprised if some clever heads will come up with a workaround in due course.

Sorry, it was a dig at FB not you.That they're more than willing to artificially restrict the software to get people to comply.so they can harvest users data. Hard to always convey tone in text though. It's not that uncommon a tactic, iirc Nvidia lock features of their drivers behind having to login to an account too.

 

[the_randomizer]

I hope it gets hacked to bypass FB just to tell them to screw off.

 

[titan_tim]

If somewhat technical game players enjoying alternative input methods is not the target market right now for such tech I don't know what is.

Technically capable game players are not fully inclusive of people who hate FB. I'm sure that they'll be able to find a somewhat tech capable people within the 2.7 billion users. The remaining who aren't using FB, as technically capable they are, are being written off for now.

I would not doubt such a move would have been considered for a long time and it either is a cost they care to pay in the short term, or necessary for their long term goals. Can't help but seeing it as a negative move from where I and seemingly most others here sit -- it does not help them make games/work the hardware more, does not help me get more games, only adds annoyance to me really.

They must have thought that as soon as FB bought out Oculus years ago, the people who don't like FB already decided not to support Oculus, so it no longer matters to further make them angry. I remember pretty clearly when the acquisition happened, so many people said the same thing.

 

[TheCasualties]

I did see a video gushing about the water physics patch for Alyx. If that is all it has to offer then I will stick with AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome which was fun but nothing to particularly write home about.

Lol you know that's not what I'm talking about! Combat in VR is so amazing. It's a huge jump in immersion. 10 minutes of Superhot VR will prove that. Who gives AF about wine bottle physics tech!

Just tried Microdose VR for the first time today, it's totally fascinating! You get to draw the audio visualizer yourself! A 2d video can't do it justice but this is an example: (skip at least 30 seconds in)


Edit: anyone interested in this look up MicrodoseVR and get a beta code. It took me about 2 minutes to find it. Think it's for PSVR also.

 

[DarthDub]

VR is still a thing? I thought it died.

 

[BvanBart]

So the anoying facebook adds will also come to my VR headset? Bruh....

 

[Ender3Guy]

Wow, talk about a dick move. I was just drooling over the Quest's wireless PC connectivity when I was this.
Nope. Vive for me.

 

[tpax]

Thank God I sold that piece of junk during the COVID-19 times for a higher price than I paid for it.

Fuck Sugarmountain and his Gesichtsbuch. Gonna roll with Valve next time, if ever.

 

[yoyoyo69]

Total shit move, not buying

What was it they paid for Oculus over $2b?

They've just handed hundreds of millions of potential future sales to competitors, in one fell swoop. Must be fun to be some one with so much power and stupidity, still pushing such a bad move as a genius maneuvere.

 

[HideoKojima]

That doesn't stop them from wiretapping whatever device you log in on, though. They'll also see that this account is used on the same IP as your other accounts and go from there. Facebook literally operates like malware.

Well the fact that you have a phone means that you can be wiretapped, I don't have Facebook. But I get your point.

 

[Joom]

Well the fact that you have a phone means that you can be wiretapped, I don't have Facebook. But I get your point.

Not if you're educated on the matter. With an iPhone, sure, since anything Apple is pertinent to the operation of the phone, but stripping anything related to Google, Facebook, all telemetry, and so on from Android is trivial. You just need a phone with a bootloader that can be unlocked, and use FOSS alternatives to standard Google apps that don't rely on their APIs. Of course you could somehow get malware installed on your phone if you just go blindly installing anything, but one would hope that anyone pursuing this endeavor practices good security measures and has some common sense. Google doesn't quite have Android in a total headlock, though recent news about Android 11 is hinting that they are making moves to do so. At any rate, my point is that for now you can have a proprietary free Android OS that isn't prone to data collection from the OEM and Google, or any other company.

 

[HideoKojima]

Not if you're educated on the matter. With an iPhone, sure, since anything Apple is pertinent to the operation of the phone, but stripping anything related to Google, Facebook, all telemetry, and so on from Android is trivial. You just need a phone with a bootloader that can be unlocked, and use FOSS alternatives to standard Google apps that don't rely on their APIs. Of course you could somehow get malware installed on your phone if you just go blindly installing anything, but one would hope that anyone pursuing this endeavor practices good security measures and has some common sense. Google doesn't quite have Android in a total headlock, though recent news about Android 11 is hinting that they are making moves to do so. At any rate, my point is that for now you can have a proprietary free Android OS that isn't prone to data collection from the OEM and Google, or any other company.

Well obviously you're more knowledgeable in the matter and I'm clearly not but I don't think one can avoid being wiretapped expect if they had a the old Nokia 3310.